And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.
The naming belongs to the answer to many years of prayer for the coming of the Redeemer. The answer was announced by a divine presence through heaven's messenger in the holy place of the sanctuary before the golden altar while the cloud of incense with the prayers of Israel was ascending before God. The messenger stood on the right side of the altar as an indication of favor. The announcement was met with fear and self-condemnation because the mercy of God was too great to credit.
The miraculous circumstances of the birth included an angel's appearance to the father, loss of speech because he did not believe, and restoration of speech when the child was born. The mother rejected the suggestion to name her son after his father and insisted that he be called John. The child so named is John, the promised son who would go before the Lord to prepare His ways as the forerunner of Christ.
The birth and its miraculous circumstances made the mission widely known and attested it by miracle and prophecy. These signs made God's work in the birth known and were remembered when John later appeared as a prophet. Yet Jerusalem was not preparing to welcome the Redeemer.
The naming belongs to the answer to many years of prayer for the coming of the Redeemer. The answer was announced by a divine presence through heaven's messenger in the holy place of the sanctuary before the golden altar while the cloud of incense with the prayers of Israel was ascending before God. The messenger stood on the right side of the altar as an indication of favor. The announcement was met with fear and self-condemnation because the mercy of God was too great to credit.
The miraculous circumstances of the birth included an angel's appearance to the father, loss of speech because he did not believe, and restoration of speech when the child was born. The mother rejected the suggestion to name her son after his father and insisted that he be called John. The child so named is John, the promised son who would go before the Lord to prepare His ways as the forerunner of Christ.
The birth and its miraculous circumstances made the mission widely known and attested it by miracle and prophecy. These signs made God's work in the birth known and were remembered when John later appeared as a prophet. Yet Jerusalem was not preparing to welcome the Redeemer.